PC card case and PC card

ABSTRACT

Disclosed is an improved PC card case comprising a casing body and a cover plate to cover the extended part of the casing body. The cover plate and the extended part are fastened together by non-unlatching, counter-hook latch means.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention

[0002] The present invention relates to a PC card to be used in an electronics device such as a personal computer, and particularly to a PC card having an extended section on its rear side, and to a PC card case containing such an extended PC card.

[0003] 2. Related Arts

[0004] Referring to FIG. 7, a conventional PC card 10 has a function-expanding printed circuit board contained in its rectangular, synthetic resin case 11. As shown, it has a contact section 12 formed on its front side for mating with the counter contact of an electronics device such as a notebook-sized personal computer, and it has an extended section 13 formed on its rear side. The extended section has an antenna, a liquid crystal display and such like installed therein. The opposite sides of the PC card 10 are covered by metal shells 14 a and 14 b of stainless steel whereas the extended section 13 is covered by a cover plate 15 of a synthetic resin material.

[0005] For example, the cover plate 15 can be fixed to the extended section 13 as follows: through holes are made in the cover plate 15 and recesses in the extended section 13, and screws are inserted in the through holes to be driven into the recesses, thus making the screws self-tap in the recesses. Another example is the ultrasonic wave welding of the cover plate to the extended section.

[0006] The cover plate when fixed to the extended section with screws can be easily removed from the extended section by unscrewing. Also, disadvantageously the screws are apt to be loosened. When the cover plate is welded to the extended section, these parts are integrally connected, not permitted from separating easily. This kind of fastening requires extra welding step, accordingly causing additional expense.

[0007] One object of the present invention is to provide a PC card which is free of such defects as described above.

[0008] Another object of the present invention is to provide a PC card case which permits its cover plate to fasten to the extended section in non-unlatching way.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0009] To attain these objects a PC card case comprising a casing body and a cover plate to cover a part of the casing body is improved according to the present invention in that the cover plate and the part are fastened together with non-unlatching, counter-hook latch means. The part of the casing is the extended section of the casing body.

[0010] The cover plate is fastened to the extended section of the casing body with non-unlatching, counter-hook latch means, thereby preventing removal of the cover plate from the extended section of the casing body to assure that the extended section be protected.

[0011] The non-unlatching, counter-hook latch means comprises two counter hooks so fixed to the part of the casing body and the cover plate that they can meet with each other when they are moved toward each other in the longitudinal or lateral direction.

[0012] The cover plate can be fastened to the part of the casing body with non-unlatching, counter-hook latch means when the cover plate slides on the part of the casing body in the longitudinal or lateral direction, and once they have been fastened with the latch, they cannot be separated from each other even though the PC card is shocked or shaken.

[0013] The extended section has a slot made on one side, thereby allowing the corresponding side of the cover plate to fit in the slot of the extended section.

[0014] This arrangement gives a better protection to the extended section of the casing body, and facilitates orientation of the cover plate relative to the extended section in assembling.

[0015] A PC card to be mounted and used in an information-processing device is contained in a PC card case described above.

[0016] A PC card comprising at least a card body including metal shells and an extended section having a cover plate applied thereto, is improved according to the present invention in that each metal shell has one or more projections formed on one side, so that the metal shell are combined with the cover pate with the projection or projections crawled under the corresponding side of the cover plate, and that the cover plate has one or more projections formed on one side, so that the cover plate are combined with the metal shell with the projection or projections crawled under the corresponding side of the metal shell.

[0017] This arrangement effectively prevents the cover plate from rising from the metal shell, leaving no gap therebetween. Thus, invasion of dust particles in the PC card is prevented and accordingly the reliability of the PC card is increased.

[0018] The present invention can be well applied to PC cards according to the PCMCIA standard, and can be equally applied to cards as for instance, follows:

[0019] first, a small-sized flash memory card, “Compact Flash” (Registered Trademark) proposed by the Compact Flash Association (outside dimensions 36.4×42.8×3.3 mm; and 8 to 192 MB);

[0020] second, a small-sized PC card, “Small PC Card” proposed by Matushita Denchi Kogyo K. K., JEIDA (the Japan Electronic Industry Development Association) and by PCMCIA (outside dimensions 45.0×42.8×5.0 mm; one half of the longitudinal size of a conventional PC card);

[0021] third, a small-sized card, “Miniature Card” proposed by the Miniature Card Implementers Forum and by the PCMCIA (outside dimensions 38×33×3.5 mm);

[0022] fourth, a small-sized card, “Smart Media” (Registered Trademark) proposed by SSFDC Forum and commercially available from Toshiba (outside dimensions 37 ×45×0.67 mm; for example, a flash EEPROM card of 2 to 64 MB);

[0023] fifth, a small-sized card, “Multi Media Card” proposed by the Multi Media Card Association (outside dimensions 24×32×1.4 mm; for example, a flash EEPROM card of 64 MB); and

[0024] sixth, a small-sized card, “Memory Stick” (Registered Trademark) proposed by Sony (outside dimensions 21.5×50×2.8 mm; for example, a flash EEPROM card of 64 MB).

[0025] Another example is a small-sized PC card equipped with a hard disk drive for magnetic record. The small-sized cards as described above and other similar cards are called “PC card” in the specification and claims.

[0026] Other objects and advantages of the present invention will be understood from the following description of a PC card and a PC card case according to the present invention, which are shown in accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

[0027] FIGS. 1(A), (B) and (C) are plane, side and bottom views of the casing body of a PC card case according to the present invention, respectively;

[0028]FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the casing body taken along the line 2-2 in FIG. 1(A);

[0029]FIG. 3(A) shows inside of a cover plate to be applied to the extended section of the casing body and FIG. 3(B) is a side view thereof;

[0030]FIG. 4(A) shows outside surface of the cover plate, and FIGS. 4(B) and (C) are side and bottom end views thereof;

[0031]FIG. 5 shows how the cover plate can be applied to the extended section of the casing body;

[0032]FIG. 6 shows how the cover plate can be fastened to the casing body with non-unlatching, counter-hook latch means; and

[0033] FIGS. 7(A), (B), (C) and (D) are front, side, rear and bottom views of a conventional PC card, respectively.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

[0034] Referring to FIG. 1, a PC card case 2 according to the present invention comprises a casing body 3 and a cover plate 4. The casing body 3 is a rectangular frame of a synthetic resin material. A large space is made in the major part of the rectangular frame 3 for accommodating a printed circuit board therein; a “U”-shaped section 3 a is formed at the front end of the frame 3 for accommodating a counter connector; and an extended section 3 b is formed at the rear end of the frame 3. The extended section 3 b is covered by the cover plate 4. The major part of the casing body 3 other than the extended section 3 b is as same in size and shape as an ordinary PC card according to the prescriptions of PCMCIA/JEIDA, particularly about 85.6 mm long, about 54.0 mm wide and about 5.0 mm thick, including the thickness of the opposite metal shells. The substantial part including the opposite metal shells is as same in shape as a PC card, and is called “card body”. The extended section 3 b is 5.0 mm thick or more, and will appear out of a personal computer housing when inserted in the card slot of the computer housing.

[0035] Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the extended section 3 b has hooks 3 c and 3 d formed on its opposite sidewalls. These hooks 3 c and 3 d are aligned in the lateral direction.

[0036] As best shown in FIG. 2, each hook is an inverted “L”-shaped piece having an engagement nail 3 e formed at its end.

[0037] Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, the cover plate 4 is a flat plate large enough to cover the rear side opening of the extended section 3 b. Two projections 4 a are formed on its front edge to catch the adjoining edge of the metal shell 5 when the cover plate 4 is applied to the extended section 3 b; two counter hooks 4 b and 4 c are formed on the opposite sides of the cover plate 4; and two projections 4 d are formed on the rear edge of the cover plate 4 to snap in recesses 3 f made in the casing body 3 (see FIG. 2).

[0038] The extended section 3 b has an encircling slot 3 h made on its opposite and rear sides, thereby permitting the cover plate 4 to fit on the extended section 3 b exactly in right position.

[0039] The counter hooks 4 b and 4 c are inverted “L”-shaped pieces each having an engagement nail 4 e formed at its end (see FIG. 4B). The vertical leg of the inverted “L”-shaped piece extends downward, and the horizontal leg of the inverted “L”-shaped piece extends parallel to the cover plate 4. These counter hooks 4 b and 4 c are so placed on the cover plate 4 that they may mate with the hooks 3 c and 3 d of the extended section 3 b, thus fastening the cover plate 4 to the extended section 3 b in non-unlatching way.

[0040] In assembling, a printed circuit board is put in the rectangular space of the frame-like casing body 3, and then, the cover plate 4 is put on the extended section 3 b as shown in FIG. 5. While the cover plate 4 is pushed rearward in the longitudinal direction, the projections 4 d are made to snap in the recesses 3 f of the casing body 3, allowing the hooks 3 c and 3 d to mate with the counter hooks 4 b and 4 c in non-unlatching way.

[0041] In this particular embodiment, the hooks 3 c and 3 d and the counter hooks 4 b and 4 c are so arranged that the hooks 3 c and 3 d may meet with the counter hooks 4 b and 4 c when the cover plate 4 is made to slide on the extended section in the longitudinal direction. The hooks 3 c and 3 d and the counter hooks 4 b and 4 c, however, may be so arranged that they may meet with each other when the cover plate 4 is made to slide on the extended section 3 b in the lateral direction.

[0042] The metal shell 5 has a lateral projection 5 a formed on its rear edge, whereas the cover plate 4 has two front projections 4 a formed on its front edge. Thus, the metal shell 5 and the cover plate 4 can be nested together by making the lateral projection 5 a of the metal shell 5 crawl under the front edge of the cover plate 4 and by making the opposite projections 4 a crawl under the rear edge of the metal shell 5, thereby keeping the metal shell 5 and the cover plate 4 coplanar with each other. Thus, there remains no gap between the metal shell 5 and the cover plate 4 to prevent dust particles to invade the inside of the PC card. In this particular embodiment, the metal shell 5 has a lateral projection 5 a formed on its rear edge whereas the cover plate 4 has two front projections 4 a formed on its front edge. Conversely the metal shell 5 may have two projections formed on its rear edge whereas the cover plate 4 may have a lateral projection formed on its front edge. Otherwise, the lateral projection may be replaced by two projections on the adjoining edges, provided that the confronting projections thus formed on the adjoining edges be staggered to prevent any interference, or the two projections may be replaced by the lateral projection on the adjoining edges, provided that the confronting lateral projections thus formed on the adjoining edges be staggered to prevent any interference.

[0043] When the cover plate 4 is made to slide on the extended section in the longitudinal direction, the hook 3 c or 3 d meets with the counter hook 4 b or 4 c on either side of the PC casing with their nails 3 e and 4 e engaged with each other, thus fastening the cover plate 4 to the extended section 3 b in non-unlatching fashion, as seen from FIG. 6. Then, the cover plate 4 cannot be removed from the extended section 3 b, no matter in which direction the cover plate 4 may be pulled or pushed away from the extended section 3 b.

[0044] As an alternative configuration, the hooks and counter hooks may be so oriented that they may meet with each other when moving toward each other in the vertical direction, and that the cover plate and the expanded section cannot move apart from each other in the horizontal direction. The PC card thus latched has an increased resistance to the vertical shock or shake.

[0045] As may be understood from the above, the cover plate and the extended section of the PC casing are fastened together in non-unlatching way, so that the PC card may not be disassembled easily. At the same time, the resistance of the PC card to the shock or shake can be significantly increased. The metal shell and the cover plate are prevented from rising above the adjoining counter part, so that they may be kept coplanar with each other. Fastening of the adjoining parts with the non-unlatching counter-hook latch means is much easier than fastening of the adjoining parts with screws or by welding. Accordingly the manufacturing cost can be reduced.

[0046] The PC card is well protected by the cover plate, which is fastened to the casing with the non-unlatching counter-hook latch means, and it has an increasing reliability. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A PC card case, comprising: a casing body; and a cover plate to cover a part of the casing body, wherein the cover plate and the part are fastened together with non-unlatching, counter-hook latch means.
 2. A PC card case according to claim 1, wherein the part of the casing to be covered by the cover plate is the extended section of the casing body.
 3. A PC card case according to claim 1, wherein the non-unlatching, counter-hook latch means comprises two counter hooks so fixed to the part of the casing body and the cover plate that they can meet with each other when they are moved toward each other in the longitudinal or lateral direction.
 4. A PC card case according to claim 2, wherein the extended section has a slot made on one side, thereby allowing a side of the cover plate corresponding to the one side to fit in the slot of the extended section.
 5. A PC card case according to claim 3, wherein the extended section has a slot made on one side, thereby allowing a side of the cover plate corresponding to the one side to fit in the slot of the extended section.
 6. A PC card to be mounted and used in an information processing device, comprising: a card body including a metal shell; and a PC card case comprising a casing body; and a cover plate to cover a part of the casing body, wherein the cover plate and the part are fastened together with non-unlatching, counter-hook latch means.
 7. A PC card according to claim 6, wherein the part of the casing to be covered by the cover plate is the extended section of the casing body.
 8. A PC card according to claim 6, wherein the non-unlatching, counter-hook latch means comprises two counter hooks so fixed to the part of the casing body and the cover plate that they can meet with each other when they are moved toward each other in the longitudinal or lateral direction.
 9. A PC card according to claim 7, wherein the extended section has a slot made on one side, thereby allowing a side of the cover plate corresponding to the one side to fit in the slot of the extended section.
 10. A PC card according to claim 8, wherein the extended section has a slot made on one side, thereby allowing a side of the cover plate corresponding to the one side to fit in the slot of the extended section.
 11. A PC card comprising: a card body including a metal shell which has at least one projection formed on one side thereof; and an extended section having a cover plate applied thereto which has at least one projection formed on one side thereof, wherein the metal shell are combined with the cover plate with the projection crawled under the one side of the cover plate and the cover plate are combined with the metal shell with the projection crawled under the one side of the metal shell.
 12. A PC card case, comprising: a casing body having a hook; and a cover plate having a counter hook to latch the hook so as to cover and fasten a part of the casing body.
 13. A PC card, comprising: a card body including a metal shell; and a PC card case, wherein the PC card comprises: a casing body having a hook; and a cover plate having a counter hook to latch the hook so as to cover and fasten a part of the casing body. 